Chess Olympiad 2022 Summary: Raunak Sadhwani draws first blood for Team India B; hosts dominate day 1

Mahabalipuram, July 29: The first round of the 44th Chess Olympiad began on a dominant note for hosts India as all six teams were off to a winning start and whitewashed their opponents on Friday (July 29). Grandmaster Raunak Sadhwani was the first player to secure a win on the opening day of the global competition.

The 16-year-old Raunak Sadhwani began the campaign for India B with a solid start in the Open section by registering a stunning win against Abdulrahman M. Later, Nihal Sarin, D Gukesh, B Adhiban also won comfortably as India B beat the United Arab Emirates by 4-0.

The 16-year-old form Nagpur, playing his maiden Olympiad, completed the win with the White pieces in a Sicilian defence game lasting 41 moves. Enjoying space advantage, Sadhwani broke through on the king side after the exchange of minor pieces and dragged the king in a checkmating net with the queen and rooks combining efficiently.

"I am happy to start with a victory. This is my first Olympiad. It feels great to play a good game," Sadhwani said after the victory.

"We want to play good chess. I think the US has the strongest lineup but if we play good chess, we can even beat them. We should take all the teams seriously as any player can play well. This is the Olympiad," he added.

The first round was inaugurated by Union Minister for I&B and Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur who made the first move on Vidit Gujrathi's board. Five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand and Arkady Dvorkovich, President of World Chess Governing body (FIDE) President, AICF President Dr Arjun Kapoor, Olympiad Director Bharat Singh Chauhan were also present on the occasion.

There was plenty of excitement and anticipation in the large crowd that thronged the Four Points by Sheraton, the venue of the Olympiad to catch a glimpse of their favourite stars. 184 of the 188 Teams registered began their campaign in this 11 Round Swiss League tournament.

The three Indian teams in the fray decided to rest Pentala Harikrishna, R Praggnanandhaa, and Surya Shekhar Ganguly for the first round. Each Team comprises of five players with four players fielded for the round and one player rested. Generally, the first few rounds of a Swiss League event are expected to provide predictable results favouring the higher-rated Teams.

Starting the proceedings with a win for India, Sadhwani won with the White pieces against Abdulrahman M in a Sicilian Defence game lasting 41 moves. Enjoying space advantage, Raunak broke through on the King side after the exchange of minor pieces and dragged the King in a checkmating net with the queen and rooks combining efficiently.

"This is my first Olympiad and I am happy to start with a victory especially if you have played a good game," said Raunak. "Me and my team want to play good chess," he added further.

India A Team shines

Meanwhile, Indian A and India C also emerged victorious in their opening round matches of the open section. Vidit Gujrathi, Arjun Erigaisi, Narayanan SL and Sasikaran Krishnan contributed in the India A's 4-0 against Zimbabwe while SP Sethuraman, Abhijeet Gupta, Murali Karthikeyan and Abhimanyu Puranik ensured unbeaten run for the hosts in the open section and guided India C to a 4-0 win against South Sudan.

The top-seeded USA also started their campaign with a victory over Angola but Levon Aronian had to struggle for a draw in an inferior position against much lower-rated IM David Silva. Norway, resting their star player Magnus Carlsen, also scored 4-0 against Lebanon.

While Vidit Gujarathi had to workhard to secure his first win and convert his advantage over IM Rodwell Makoto of Zimbabwe, Arjun Erigaisi, SL Narayanan and K Sasikiran registered regulation wins.

Indian Women whitewash Hong Kong:

Meanwhile, Indian women too produced dominating performances as all the three teams blanked out their respective opponents by identical 4-0 margins.

Koneru Humpy led the strong show of India A against Tajikistan in the women's section as she defeated N Antoneva. Tania Sachdev, R Vaishali and Bhakti Kulkarni also impressed in India A's win.

Seeded 16th, India C team was the first to finish their match, winning with an expected and anticipated 4-0 victory over Hong Kong. Eesha Karavade, PV Nandhidhaa, M Varshini Sahiti and Pratyusha Bodda took part in the match for India C.

Vantika Agrawal, Soumya Swaminathan, Mary Ann Gomes and Divya Deshmukh guided India B to victory against Wales.

A total of 184 teams out of 188 sides began their campaign on Friday in this 11 Round Swiss League tournament where India's three sides are taking part in the open section.

Each Team comprises five players with four players fielded for the round and one player rested. For the first time in its history, India has been hosting this prestigious event which will be played till August 10.

Results:

Open section:

India A vs Zimbabwe (India won 4-0)

Vidit Gujrathi beat Makoto Rodwell

Masango Spencer lost to Arjun Erigaisi

Narayanan.S.L defeated Mushore Emarald

Zhemba Jemusse lost to Sasikaran Krishnan

India B vs UAE (India won 4-0)

Al Hosani lost to Gukesh D

Nihali beat Sultan I

M.S lost to Adhiban B

Raunak Sadhwani beat Abdul Rahman